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From homeless services to immigrant rights, public service advocacy is paramount to each of UC Hastings' four first-year California Bar Foundation Diversity Scholarship award winners.
Twenty-two first-year law students statewide received the award in 2013, and UC Hastings is honored by its students' commitment to championing the underprivileged.
"Having students like this year's California Bar Foundation fellows is what UC Hastings is all about as a law school," says Mark Aaronson, emeritus professor and founder of the Civil Justice Clinic. "Especially because we have a diverse student body, we view as central to our educational mission preparing them to become responsive, high-quality, problem-solving lawyers who make pro bono service and striving for social justice a continuing and integral part of a lifetime in law."
Jeanette Acosta
Immigration and education reform are important to Acosta, whose grandparents left Mexico for the United States and instilled in her a deep appreciation for education.
After interning for former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and leading a university-wide scholarship fund for low-income students at USC, Acosta founded a learning center for mostly immigrant families in Hollister through the Cesar Chavez Foundation and AmeriCorps. She later received a Fulbright research grant to study education policy and developmental programs in Zacatecas, Mexico. Acosta received a master's in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. After law school, Acosta hopes to continue advocating on behalf of immigrants and students. "My family worked so hard to get to this point; I feel a responsibility to make sure others have the same opportunities," she says.
Nancy Arévalo
Arévalo's experience as an immigrant and farmworker has also shaped her view on the law. As a high school student in Patterson, Arévalo worked sorting apricots and tomatoes alongside her parents, who fled El Salvador's civil war in the 1980s. "I saw the things they went through," she says. "So I'm grateful for the opportunities I've had, and now I have an opportunity to help others in similar situations."
Arévalo spent six years working for the National Senior Citizens Law Center in Oakland before law school. She has degrees in sociology and Spanish literature from UC Berkeley.
Chris Ballard
Despite growing up poor in the San Joaquin Valley, Ballard turned down a lucrative job offer after college in favor of returning home to work for a nonprofit as a community organizer. At 23, he was appointed to the city of Wasco's Planning Commission, becoming the youngest commissioner in California state history and his city's first African-American chairman overseeing city development. Ballard saw that earning a law degree would help him better understand the legal complexities that govern the world we live in.
"Honestly, I am just trying to contribute," he says. "Trying to contribute something meaningful to UC Hastings and the broader legal community so that one day the doors that have been opened for me will be opened for others."
Randall Coard
Coard's life took a dramatic turn nearly 20 years ago when he slipped while sitting on a window ledge and fell seven stories, breaking his neck. "I lost my job, my insurance, everything. I got to experience—like many people in the Tenderloin—what it is to have nothing," he says.
Coard began volunteering for organizations that assist people in need and is a founding member of the San Francisco Reentry Council, which coordinates support efforts for newly released prisoners. "This is what I wanted to do with my life," he says. "And getting a legal education is central to my goals. Passing the bar is very important to me. I want to become an attorney so I can return the favor to those who have helped me, and especially to those who have the least access to the legal system."
Editor's Note: This story is excerpted from the Spring 2014 UC Hastings magazine, delivering April 22, 2014.


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|Episode Description
|Sunday, Feb 24, 2013 - 4:00 AM
"Design, Construction, and Technology"
MIT Professor Mitchel Resnick guides this workshop exploring technology as an aid for learning. He discusses the impact of technology on learning when students design and construct tools to support their own inquiries. Teachers demonstrate technology in their classrooms and provide a sneak peek at Resnick. D
|More on LEARN/CREATE (MT)
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subset: commoncrawl


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There seems to be a bit of confusion as to when National Gingerbread Day is; today, June 5th or the day after Thanksgiving. I've chosen today to celebrate because I've been just "dying" to share Tummy Tingles:) with you.
Authored by Josephine Brandenburg Beardsley and the folks at The Wheat Institute in 1937, Tummy Tingles is charmingly illustrated by Majorie Peters. But wait, it gets better. On each of its 12 pages there are tangy rhymes about wheat bread, biscuits, rolls, muffins, gingerbread and pancakes. There's also a poem called the Cookie Tree. It is such a delightful children's book, I thought I would share a glimpse of its contents today on National Gingerbread Day! How about some Fairy Gingerbread?
I typed it out just in case clicking the image doesn't help. (it should though:) I've also included the recipe below.
Of sugar, flour, and spice.
"They said, "We'll give some to our queen,
It looks so very nice!"
So they put some on a napkin,
Laid on a pretty plate,
And took it to the rose bower
Where she was sleeping late.
When the little queen awakened,
It lay before her eyes
And then she cried with great delight,
"Oh what a big surprise!"
"For gingerbread so nice and brown,
So yummy and so airy
My royal thanks and compliments
to every cooking fairy!"
I was hiding by the rose bower
And was quiet as could be
When she asked the happy fairies
For their secret recipe.
I had a little notebook there
And wrote down what they said,
So that is how I learned to make
This Fairy Gingerbread!
|1 cup sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 cup milk
|1 cup molasses
2-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. soda (baking)
1 tbs. ginger
|Cream sugar and buter in bowl. Beat eggs. Add eggs, milk, and molasses to butter and sugar mixture. Sift flour, soda, and ginger into mixture and beat well. Bake in shallow greased pan in moderate oven (350 degrees) for 45 minutes.
I'm excited to "report," a modernized version of Fairy Gingerbread, from the folks @ Cook's Illustrated, can be found at a new blog I just discovered called Pie-O-My.
June 5th
On June 5th 1883, William Horlick of Rancine, Wisconsin was granted the first patent for Malted Milk. Horlick's was first used for babies and invalids. You can read about Wisconsin's Malted Milk Story and see the patent here.
Bananas were first introduced in the US on June 5th. It says so right here:)
Rudolph Gustav Hass was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 5, 1892. Does any part of that name look familiar? It didn't to me at first. But then, I realized Haas rang a bell. Why of course, amateur horticulturist Rudolph Hass was the developer of the Hass avocado naming it after himself.
In the late 1920s, Mr. Rudolph Hass, a postman, purchased the seedling tree from Rideout, and planted it in his new orchard. He planned to graft another variety on it, but when repeated grafts didn't take he planned to cut the tree down. Fortunately for avocado lovers everywhere, Hass's children talked him out of it. They preferred the taste of the tree's fruit to that of the Fuerte, the predominant variety and industry standard in those days.
Since the quality was high and the tree gave a good yield, Hass named the variety after himself and took out a patent in 1935. That same year, he signed an agreement with Harold Brokaw, a Whittier nurseryman, to grow and promote the Hass Avocados. They would split the gross income: 25 percent for Hass and 75 percent for Brokaw. (California Avocado Commission
June 6th
National Applesauce Cake Day. Speaking of apples, did everyone see the Applegate Farms Coupon Giveaway hosted by Inger @ the Art of Natural Living? (another new blog I recently discovered:)
The first drive-in movie theater opened in Camden, New Jersey, on June 6, 1933. (Oh what fond memories I have of movie night at the Drive-In when I was just a wee tot:)
I'm going to leave you with those tasty days for now. Many of you have already seen the weekly celebrations I listed last June. If you crave a refresher or haven't seen it yet, here's the link.
1. How to Celebrate National Gingerbread Day
2. Plum Gingerbread Sponge Pudding


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MP5125A IDE DVD+RW - Page
The DVD+RW consortium after the first shipment of DVD+RW drives, ships its
second generation DVD recorders that support both DVD+R and DVD+RW format. Ricoh
is the first manufacturer that ships DVD+R/RW recorders with the model MP5125A.
We compare the new MP5125A and the previous MP5120A to see what has changed
and how compatible is the DVD+R against the DVD-R.
DVD+R: Physical format
The main change of the MP5125A is the adoption of the DVD+R writing. For now
very few companies ship DVD+R media and for our tests we only got 5 pieces of
DVD+R media from Ricoh. In short, the DVD+R has exactly same specs as with the
DVD-R as Verbatim states:
As we can see the DVD+R format has almost the same specs as with DVD-R for
General use. That means, that both DVD+R and DVD-R should have the same compatibility
with DVD players and drives. Below is a graph that lists the major features
of all DVD formats:
DVD+R at a glance:
- Single-sided (4.7 GB) and double-sided (9.4GB) discs option
- Uses a bare disc - no cartridge required
- 650 nm laser (numerical aperture 0.65)
- Constant linear data density
- CLV and CAV recording
- Write speeds from 1x to 2.4x DVD-Video data rates
- Lossless linking anti-buffer underrun technology
The drive
MP5125A supports 12x (CD) and 2.4x DVD+R/+RW writing, 10x re-writing, 32x (CD)
and 8x (DVD-ROM/+R/+RW) reading. The drive also supports "JustLink"
technology in order to avoid buffer underruns, for the CD format. Its writing
speeds are: 2x, 4x, 8x, 12x (CLV) writing and 4x, 10x (CLV) re-writing.
writing speed for DVD+R/+RW format is 2.4X CLV (X factor is now 1385Kb/s)
which is equivalent to 20x for CD-RW drives. Although the media support both
CAV and CLV writing modes, the drive incorporates the CLV recording. The differences
are the same as in the CD writing, meaning that the overall writing speed with
CLV will be quicker. However random access with CAV is quicker. Due to 'Lossless
Linking' we don't have buffer underrun problems in DVD+R/+RW formats. The drive
doesn't support Mt. Rainier in both CD/DVD formats. The next generation of DVD+RW
recorders are supposed to support the DVD-MRW format (Mount Rainier at DVD format).
Currently, the following writing formats are supported:
1) DVD+R/+RW: DVD-ROM, DVD-Video, Random Access Write
2) CD-R/RW: CD-DA, CD-ROM, CD-ROM XA, CD Extra, CD-I, Mixed-ModeCD, VideoCD,
PhotoCD, CD TEXT and Bootable CD.
The media
Almost all manufacturers that sell DVD+RW will also ship DVD+R
media. The DVD+R media can be written at 1X-2.4X. The media support both CLV
and CAV recording technologies. CAV can be used in high-speed random access
applications and CLV can be used in real-time recording applications. In addition,
the DVD+R/+RW format utilizes lossless linking technology to support multi-session
writing, allowing users to write (and read) additional data and video segments
without finalizing the sessions. This feature enhances playback compatibility,
saves time, and gives users the flexibility to use low-cost, write-once DVD+R
discs for backups and archiving, as well as enabling different users to add
recording sessions to the same disc.
The "official" DVD disc sizes are confusing because
they do not follow the conventions used for other digital media. In the DVD
world, 1 Gigabyte is 1,000,000,000 (109) bytes, whereas in the computer world,
1 Gigabyte is 1,073,741,824 (230) bytes. Therefore a 4.7-GB computer hard disk
contains more data than a 4.7-GB DVD. In other words you can only fit up
to 4.38GB of data, as with DVD-R/-RW/+RW media.
As with the DVD+RW, there will be two types of DVD+R media: "For
Data", which can be used with drives that support DVD+RW media and "For
Video" for stand alone Video players/recorders and drives. Both types include
CSS written information in order to be compatible with all standalone DVD players.
The DVD+R prices are expected to be around $9.99 for the single-sided 4.7GB
discs and DVD+RW media available for $14.99.
The package
The package supplied included: the drive itself and 5 pieces of
DVD+R media. The retail package will include: the drive itself, a quick start
instruction guide, 1 piece of Ricoh 74min CD-R media, 1 piece of Ricoh DVD+RW
& DVD+R media, 1 piece of Ricoh 74min HS-RW blank, audio cables and mounting
screws. The attached software programs would be: Nero v5.5x, InCD v3.2x, NeoDVD
v2.6x for DVD Video authoring, WinProducer v2.00 for Video editing and WinDVD
v3.0 for DVD playback. The expected price of the drive is around $450. The DVD+R
media costs $10 and DVD+RW media 15$. The European package will include 2 years
of warranty.
The front of the drive contains all the necessary logos to separate
it from normal CD-RW drives. The "Ricoh", "JustLink", "High-Speed
RW" and "DVD+RW/+R" logos printed on it among with the drives
codename "MP5125A" makes the difference. There is also only one led,
the eject button and the headphone input jack/volume selector:
On the back of the drive there are the usual connectors (IDE interface,
power), the jumpers for setting the drive as Master/Slave/Cable Select, the
SPDIF output connector and 3 jumpers which are not used (factory reserved):
The Ricoh MP5125A was installed as Master in the secondary IDE
BUS. The drive worked in UDMA-2 mode and after boot up, it identified itself
as the "Ricoh DVD+RW MP5125". Under WinXP, DMA was activated
The drive was a 2002 model (not sure which month exactly), with
an initial firmware revision of v1.00a. Ricoh send us later a newer firmware
update of v1.13 that was used for all reading/writing tests. We used Nero v188.8.131.52,
InCD v3.28 and CloneCD v18.104.22.168. beta 30 for the recording tests.
The latest build of Nero supports the "high compatibility"
mode. This was included by the software companies to allow users creating DVDs
that they can create them according to the DVD ROM standard. As you may know
the minimum data on a pressed DVD is about 1Gb or 30 mm of data. In some DVD
drives and players having less data may cause incompatibility issues. The feature
allows the users to write the minimum amount of data and the actual user data
should not be less than 1Gb or 30mm.


text:
Pasqualoni UConn timeline
January 14 -- Paul Pasqualoni is hired by athletic director Jeff Hathaway to replace Randy Edsall. "He's going to be in tune with all the Connecticut high school coaches and I'm sure he's going to keep Connecticut talent in Connecticut. We're all thrilled," Staples football coach Marce Petroccio said that day. "To have him back here, it's so exciting for us."
January 26 -- Alumni Robert Burton, who gave $2.5 million to help build the now-named Burton Family Football Complex, writes a scathing six-page letter to Hathaway. Not happy that Pasqualoni was hired, Burton said that, "as the largest donor in the UConn football program, I told you that I wanted to be involved in the hiring process for the new coach. I also gave you my insight about who would be a good fit for the head coaching position as well as who would not."
September 3 -- Huskies open Pasqualoni era with a 35-3 win over Fordham. UConn proceeds to lose four of its next five games.
November 26 -- UConn hammers Rutgers 40-22 at the Rent to pull to 5-6 and within a victory of becoming bowl eligible. "We talk about toughness all the time and to me, that's the definition of toughness, taking responsibility and doing something about it," Pasqualoni said after the game. "This game was important but what's more important is how you respond to adversity."
December 3 -- No bowl for UConn. Cincinnati beats the Huskies 35-27 as UConn ends with a 5-7 record.
August 30 -- Year 2 of the Pasqualoni era starts with a 37-0 rout of UMass. Over the next four games, UConn would lost to North Carolina State and Western Michigan and defeat Maryland and Buffalo to stand at 3-2, heading into Big East play.
October 6 -- Huskies can only muster a single field goal in a 19-3 loss at Rutgers. "This is the third of these `winnables' that we didn't come up with. Certainly it upsets you." Pasqualoni said. "We had a chance to come away with seven (points) and we got three. We had a chance to make plays and we didn't make them." It is the first of four straight losses where the UConn offense only scores 33 points.
November 24 -- A week after a 24-17 win over Pitt at the Rent, UConn goes to Louisville and beats the 19th Cardinals 23-20 in three overtimes. Without question, it's the highlight win of the Pasqualoni era to date and put the Huskies (5-6) within a game of bowl eligibility.
December 1 -- For the second straight year, the Huskies fall short of becoming bowl eligible as Cincinnati wins 34-17 at the Rent. UConn finished 5-7 for a second straight year.
When asked about the direction he felt the program was going, Pasqualoni said: "I feel good about it. My confidence level, my passion for it, my outlook, has not chanced one iota. I just think we have to get another recruiting class in here and have another great off-season program and get going."
August 29 -- Towson, an FCS school, comes to the Rent and spanks the Huskies 33-18. "I'm disappointed," Pasqualoni said after the game. "I don't know an area where we did play well."
September 14 -- Edsall brings his Maryland Terrpains to the Rent and gets revenge for the 2011 loss, rolling over the Huskies 32-21. "What do I tell the team?" Pasqualoni said. "I tell them we have to understand that we're doing some very good things in these games. We're doing some very good things, but we're just not doing enough things consistently. We're really getting hurt by big plays and for the most part, they're self-inflicted."
September 21 -- Before a record crowd of 42,704 at the Rent, UConn leads No. 15 Michigan 21-7 in the third quarter before allowing 17 unanswered points in a 24-21 loss.
September 28 -- UConn is embarrassed 41-12 at Buffalo, a team the Huskies had beaten eight straight times dating back to 2001. "We just didn't make enough happen," Pasqualoni said. "We didn't run the ball really at all. We just could not get things turned around. Not much good happened. That's it."
September 30 -- That's it, all right. Paul Pasqualoni is fired by UConn AD Warde Manuel.


text:
The focus of the anatomic pathology division at UPMC is the visual detection of disease from tissue specimens.
We examine cells from organs involved by a suspected disease — such as cancer of the liver, kidney, or breast — and analyze their changes and abnormalities.
By understanding the changes in a person's cells, we can begin to understand the patient's symptoms.
We use a microscope to look at individual cells in detail. This allows us to see anything out of the ordinary and determine the overall health of your cells.
Although pathologists do not see the patient in person, we look at your medical information, including results of your doctor's physical exam, medications,radiology reports and laboratory tests to help determine the best diagnosis. By understanding what is wrong with your cells and tissues, we can begin to understand why you are having symptoms. Our diagnostic report can help your doctor develop the best treatment plan.
Tens of thousands of pathology samples come to our lab each year, and, as they arrive, we sort them by organ system.
Diagnostic pathologists with particular expertise in an organ group then analyze the samples, formulate a diagnosis and work with each patient's physician in a highly specialized collaboration to determine the best treatment plan. This often involves meeting with your physician and reviewing your pathology specimen over the microscope.
Our anatomic pathology division is organized into the following Centers of Excellence, each of which specializes in the pathology of a specific organ or system:
If you're waiting for test results or have a question for your doctor, sign in to UPMC HealthTrak. HealthTrak is a secure, interactive tool that lets you manage your health online.
Affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Schools of the Health Sciences
| Supplemental content provided by Healthwise, Incorporated. To learn more, visit www.healthwise.org
For help in finding a doctor or health service that suits your needs, call the UPMC Referral Service at 412-647-UPMC (8762) or 1-800-533-UPMC (8762). Select option 1.
UPMC is an equal opportunity employer. UPMC policy prohibits discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, genetics, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, familial status, disability, veteran status, or any other legally protected group status. Further, UPMC will continue to support and promote equal employment opportunity, human dignity, and racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity. This policy applies to admissions, employment, and access to and treatment in UPMC programs and activities. This commitment is made by UPMC in accordance with federal, state, and/or local laws and regulations.
Medical information made available on UPMC.com is not intended to be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. You should not rely entirely on this information for your health care needs. Ask your own doctor or health care provider any specific medical questions that you have. Further, UPMC.com is not a tool to be used in the case of an emergency. If an emergency arises, you should seek appropriate emergency medical services.
Pittsburgh, PA, USA | UPMC.com


text:
Beekeeping in Vermont...
Mark your calendars, you won't want to miss the winter meeting. As always, it's the Tuesday of the Vermont Farm Show - this year on January 28, 2014 at the Champlain Valley Expo. Taylor Ricketts of UVM will be wowing us with pollinators in the morning and Mike Palmer will delight us with beekeeping how-tos in the afternoon. Watch for more information and an agenda posted on the website within the next month or so.
- Details
- Published: 05 November 2013 05 November 2013


text:
- embed:
- link:
Rod Daily & Santos in Hot Jocks Nice Cocks
Synopsis: Rod and Santos are back from their weekend soccer game where Rod had some great moves. During the conversation their eyes wonder and they begin to admire each other's bodies. A little showing off leads to some touching causing soccer balls to be the last thing on their mind.
Porn stars: Rod Daily , Santos
Where: Couch, Living Room
Categories: Athletic, Bubble butt, Cum on stomach, Dirty talk, Facial hair, Kissing, Lean, Muscular, Short hair, Tall, Tattoos, Tight ass, Underwear
More "Rod Daily" , "Santos" Porn Videos
Rod Daily & Joey Cooper in I'm a Married Man
Joey Cooper is in the men's locker room and notices a tattooed, muscular man checking him out. Turned on, he...
Who: Married Man
Where: Locker Room, Shower
Categories: Ball licking, Cum on stomach, Dirty talk, Facial hair, Lean, Masculine, Masturbating, Muscular, Shaved, Short hair, Straight Guys, Tattoos, Young guy
Rod Daily & David Chase in My Brother's Hot Friend
David heads over to visit his friend, Rod's brother, who is out running errands. Rod can tell something is on...
Who: Brothers friend, Friend, Straight Guy
Categories: Big dick, Deep-throating, Dirty talk, Facial hair, Hairy chest, Lean, Muscular, Natural bush, Short hair, Straight Guys, Tall, Tattoos, Tight ass
Rod Daily & Girth Brooks in Men Hard at Work
Rod is visiting his banker, Mr. Brooks, in hopes that he'll get the funding he needs to add a juice bar to his...
Categories: Athletic, Big balls, Big dick, Bubble butt, Cum on stomach, Dirty talk, Dress socks, Facial hair, Hairy Ass, Hairy chest, Lean, Masculine, Masturbating, Muscular, Short hair, Smooth, Straight Guys, Suits And Ties, Tall, Tattoos, Tight ass
Rod Daily & Niko Reeves in I'm a Married Man
Niko Reeves is figuring out Rod Daily's taxes for the year and it turns out that poor Rod owes the government fifteen...
Who: Blue Collar, Client
Categories: Asian, Ball licking, Big dick, Big load, Bubble butt, Cum on stomach, Dress socks, Kissing, Masturbating, Suits And Ties
Rod Daily & Sean Stavos in My Brother's Hot Friend
Rod Daily stopped by his friend's house to go swimming, so why not skinny dip a little? His friend's brother, Sean...
Who: Brothers friend, Family friend, Friend
Where: Couch, Living Room
Categories: Ball licking, Big dick, Bubble butt, Cum on chest, Cum on stomach, Deep-throating, Hairy chest, Kissing, Lean, Muscular, Rimming, Short hair, Tall, Tattoos, Tight ass
Rod Daily & Trevor Knight in Men Hard at Work
Rod Daily got into some trouble with the law and his lawyer happens to be Trevor Knight. After some research, Trevor...
Who: Bad boy, Client, Lawyer, Prisoner
Categories: Athletic, Ball licking, Big dick, Cum on stomach, Dirty talk, Lean, Masturbating, Muscular, Rimming, Short hair, Suits And Ties, Tall, Tattoos, Tight ass, Uniform
Rod Daily, Brandon Lewis & Parker London in Hot Jocks Nice Cocks
Rod Daily and Parker London are fighting over a girl after practice and fists get thrown. Luckily, Brandon Lewis is...
Who: Friend, Team mates
Where: Floor, Locker Room
Categories: Athletic, Deep-throating, Dirty talk, Lean, Masculine, Muscular, Short hair, Tattoos, Threesome, Tight ass


text:
Health/Fitness » Fitness
Watch: Tom Daley Gets 'Hot and Sweaty' in New Workout Video
Olympic British swimmer Tom Daley is back to training and is giving fans an up close and personal view of his intense workout.
The athlete, who recently tied the knot with Oscar-winning screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, shared a new YouTube video called "Hot and Sweaty! A Fresh Start!" this week, showing his first workout routine since being on break for his wedding and honeymoon.
"It's gonna hurt but I thought I'd take you guys with me...to show you the pain I'm going to go through," he says in the clip. "Hopefully it'll be a productive week of training."
The video shows Daley doing aerobics, weight-lifting, swimming and, of course, diving. Oh, and there are also super close-ups of him stretching.
Check out the intense clip below.


text:
Powerful computer & fast network connection are recommended to play 1080p video smoothly
It's launch day for one of the most highly-anticipated video games of all time. Join the character "Kirito" as he begins
his journey in the virtual world of Sword Art Online.
Get the latest updates on show information, news, and more.


text:
Trackwrestling has allowed wrestling fans everywhere to follow their favorite wrestlers online when they are unable to attend an event. However, for those of you who still wish to follow your wrestler but cannot be by a computer all day or simply don't want to sit there and refresh constantly, we are excited to announce that we will be providing instant results via text messages to cellular phones and/or emails.
With text messaging, your phone will alert you as soon as the result of the match is entered online. The text message will include the names and teams of each wrestler, win type, and match score. You may need to contact your cellular phone company to be certain that your phone has an activated text messaging feature. The email service works the same way, but you would receive an email instead. This works great for people who don't want to navigate the website to find results, but can easily check email. If you are interested in participating in this service, click continue below to sign up.
NOTE: You get a $10.00 text message coupon when you sign up as a Trackwrestling Gold member.
Click here to view the benefits of becoming a Gold member.
Click here to sign up as a Gold member.


text:
Ask questions and share experiences on the friendliest and most knowledgeable audio forum on the Internet.
Use this control to limit the display of threads to those newer than the specified time frame.
Allows you to choose the data by which the thread list will be sorted.
Order threads in...
Note: when sorting by date, 'descending order' will show the newest results first.
Forum Rules


text:
Big, Affordable, and Green
A version of this article appears in the March/April 2005 issue of Home Energy Magazine.
March 01, 2005
1400 on Fifth, a condominium building located in Harlem, New York, celebrated its grand opening in October, 2004, marking its status as the largest affordable green multifamily residence in the country. Designed by the firm Full Spectrum, which specializes in developing affordable green and smart buildings for urban markets, the $40 million, 225,000 ft2 building consists of 129 condominium homes, 9 townhouses, and first-floor retail space.Twothirds of the condominiums are reserved for buyers with an annual income of $50,000–$104,000, while the last third are selling at market rates. Retail residents include a sports club, a dry cleaner, a bank, and a restaurant. Housing Commissioner Shaun Donovan says that "1400 on Fifth gives 129 families the opportunity to be homeowners and to build their futures in Harlem." 1400 on Fifth is the first affordable urban housing development to receive a New Construction Whole Building Award for its energy design. It is also expected to qualify for the New York State Green Building tax credit, as well as a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Award. Steven Winter Associates, Incorporated, oversaw the project's design to ensure that these standards could be met. &...
To read complete online articles, you need to sign up for an Online Subscription.
Once an order has been placed there is an automatic $10 processing fee that will be deducted with any cancellation.
The Home Energy Online articles are for personal use only and may not be printed for distribution. For permission to reprint, please send an e-mail to email@example.com.


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Collectible Pottery, Wren Houses
Cam-Rock Clay Works is affectionately known as "Three Sisters and a Kiln." The business is a partnership of three sisters living in Rockdale, a small village near Cambridge in southeastern Wisconsin. Internationally renowned pottery decorator Cynthia Meyers has over 20 years experience as an artist and pottery decorator. Pamela Allen has 25 years experience in sales and accounting. And Wendy Lein has 20 years experience in marketing and business development. Cam-Rock Clay Works specializes in one-of-a-kind, limited edition, collectible pottery. Production methods follow the highest standards to ensure quality, artistry, and environmental sensitivity.
Wisconsinmade.com is pleased to offer ceramic platters featuring a customer's home handpainted from a photograph by Cam-Rock Clay Works artists. These platters are not only works of art, but they are also microwave and dishwasher safe. They are the perfect gift for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and any special occasion.


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With more than 9,000 messages being sent every second, Twitter can be a noisy place, so it's always important to distinguish yourself from the crowd.
Luckily, Twitter has a few features that can help, including Twitter Cards, promoted tweets and images.
Over on Facebook, posts that include optimised images receive around 120% more engagement. Research suggests that the same is true on Twitter, so I decided to test this out.
Here at Econsultancy we post a lot of tweets. Last month we published a whopping 153 articles on the blog alone, and that doesn't take into account tweets about events, training, reports or random conversations about Ben twerking with Google Glass.
We don't want to flood or annoy our followers, so we spend a lot of time working out which content you want to see, optimising our headlines and subject matter, and hopefully mixing depth of content with the odd link-bait headline.
We also want new followers to join the conversation, and ultimately, we'd like followers to visit the site and engage with the content here.
In order to compare effectiveness I added an image to our regular weekly '10 interesting digital marketing statistics we've seen this week' tweet, then benchmarked it against the posts from previous weeks.
Let's take a look at the stats for the last five posts:
The tweet at the top included an image and... well, doesn't do much really.
It's not the lowest performing, but neither is it the highest. Granted the other posts have had a little longer to get out and about, but I don't expect the figures to rocket upwards.
The post that was most popular did include this factoid:
52% of agencies now offer a 'full range of digital marketing services'.
And as we've learned from experience, if you talk about agencies, then agencies tend to talk about you, and themselves (no offence agencies, that's your job after all) and the comments on the post reflect that this was the conversation starter.
With no measurable effects, I took the question to Twitter to see what our followers had to say:
We received an interesting array of answers. Most respondents said that they would be more likely to open a tweet with an image attached, but many added provisos:
When adding images, consider the viewing experience
It's fair to assume that @Econsultancy has a larger-than-average proportion of pro tweeters following, who are more likely to be utilising apps like Tweetdeck and Hootsuite.
When they are readily displayed, the images certainly stand out more:
Over on Twitter for desktop or mobile however, images are hidden:
Context, context, context:
Even if they're in the right 'browser', the tweet itself matters. People won't click on a link if they don't know what it is, so making sure you have framing and context is hugely important.
"Check this chart out: Just 20% of businesses tie data collection to business objectives http://mypicture".
is better than:
"Just 20% of businesses tie data collection to business objectives http://mypicture".
Even if you're a trusted source, hacks do happen, so your followers still want to make sure that link won't whisk them away to visit the Nigerian Prince's Bank Account.
With that said, there's something to be said for piquing peoples' curiosity:
But again, context rules. For Twitter accounts dealing with a broader audience, this could be the winner, as it works well with more playful or conversational content:
The call to action requires only that the user look at the image, not that they visit an extra external page, so use images to encourage conversation and awareness within Twitter.
Adding extra links to push people to other parts of the web will look messy. Try something like "Guess who we saw outside Econsultancy towers earlier? LINK".
(For those of you who clicked that link, I am deeply sorry to admit that we didn't actually see a time-travelling 1970s Grandmaster Flash outside earlier. I promise that's the only untruth in this post).
In other words, we're back to our old friend User Experience.
Good UX should go everywhere
Even if you're utilising someone else's platform, you need to make the process as painless and straightforward as possible.
We've written before about the art of optimising tweets, and this is no exception. It's also worth remembering that being able to include images this way is still fairly new, so there's a certain novelty value (and if you want to keep it that way, best not to go overboard on images, and do consider alternative types of media such as Vine and video in general) which may initially increase engagement.
Overall it appears that images in tweets can increase actions on Twitter, but only if used in a specific way that may well be separate from your usual Twitter actions.
If you've been using images or other media regularly then do please let me know what effect it has had in the comments.
Comments (5)
Surprisingly enough, my current browser plays a key role as well.
Useful stuff and makes sense.
It'd be interesting to see you extend the experiment to Twitter Cards. We've played around with them and initial results indicate higher engagement but we don't have your volumes, so any chance you could give it a try?
UX-wise, the cards do offer users a compelling additional content layer. But does it translate into numbers? Love to know!
I was just thinking the other day it was too bad you couldn't MVT your tweets. Here's another example of that...! There are lots of potential interactions with content type that would be best addressed in this way.
Great post, Matt.
Was that the only test that you ran? I'd say that given it was the 5th time you tweeted it and it's a month after it was published, that's a respectable number of RTs/faves. I know that if I clicked-through and saw that it was an older post, I might be less inclined to share it. Also, some of your other followers might've recognised it from before, and thought not to RT it for that reason (or maybe they already had done)!
You also say that it's "not the lowest performing," but it does get the lowest number of click-throughs (through to the article, that is - not including the pic). Depends on what you determine to be success though: clicks vs. RTs.
Why not run another experiment where the 2nd time you tweet it it has the pic? I'd be curious to know if it gets more clicks/RTs/faves that the original!
Great one Matt!
As they say, 'one size does not fit all' - one rule does not apply to all. The way one uses any communication platform is very subjective. The content needs to be tailored to what they want to communicate, the target, brand 'tone' etc. For some, images might work well and for the rest, it might not.
Totally agree with your overview.
BTW, can you please let me know which Twitter analytics tool are you using. Appreciate it.


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text:
Rebuilding Wonderland
Well it happened. It shouldn't have. We had backups,
That's what they always say. It shouldn't have.
Well it happened, and it wasn't suppose to.
The server crashed and took the WordPress data with it.
We have backups, what's that you say, there not working.
The angry rises…
How could this happen? It shouldn't have.
Time to rebuild, time to move to Azure.
Time to say goodbye to a hosting company that got lazy.
Time to look in the mirror, and face the one who didn't check.
Well it happened. It shouldn't have. But it did.
Gratitude to web.archive.org.
You backed up the site. You didn't fail, we did.
Have you verified your backups lately?
Don't find yourself saying.
Well it happened. It shouldn't have.
It'll take some time to rebuild eight years worth of posts
Take baby steps, we'll get there.
The Secret to Controlling your Windows 8.1 Phone with "Project My Screen " app
If you have Windows Phone 8.1 and want to display it's screen during a presentation try the Project my Screen feature. You've probably heard of this feature, if not Cliff Simpkins has details on how to install and use the feature.
Essentially you install an application on your computer and enable the feature on the phone. Run the desktop application on the computer. When you connect the phone to the computer via USB you see this prompt on the phone.
If you choose Yes, your phone screen is shown in the desktop app (and can be shown on a conference projector).
Did you know the connection is bidirectional?
I've been using this feature for a couple days but I had no idea that the connection went both ways. I have a touch screen laptop. I can touch the image projected on my laptop screen and remote control the phone. Nice!
Shout out to Morten Nielsen for tweeting about this "feature".
Well, that's impressive. Animating an Isometric based world
Reflecting on Design #18
I have a soft heart for Isometric designs. Mike Winkelmann, a graphic designer from Appleton, Wisconsin, animated this amazing Isometric video. What is especially interesting to me is how he successfully moves the camera around the central focal point and yet never loses the isometric layout of the house in the center of the screen.
subprime from beeple on Vimeo.
If you've ever done any isometric work you know how the layout is based on parallel grid, that don't converge.
MIT PDF describing the basics of Isometric drawing.
Typefaces on Display – Just Old Fashion (free)
Just Old Fashion typeface. Free true type font at
Setting up the "Hey Cortana" voice service on Lumia phones
There is good news for the fans of Lumia Windows Phones. After a long wait the Denim update is rolling out from the carriers to the handset. Denim consists of an OS and firmware update for the Lumia devices.
Cortana, the excellent voice-driven personal assistant, gets a few welcome updates in this version, including the ability to activate her by saying "Hey Cortana". So when my Lumia Icon was updated today and finished rebooting I tried the "Hey Cortana" phrase a few times with no results. After some help from Twitter, I discovered that the feature is off by default. Why? Because you have to train her to recognize your voice. I guess that keeps other Windows phone owners (or malicious bystanders) from activating Cortana on your device.
Steps to success
Here are the steps to activate and train the service.
First, open the settings app and then open the Hey Cortana settings.
Then follow the steps shown in the following screenshots.
Cortana listens when you say "Hey Cortana", even when your phone is asleep or locked. You can train Cortana so this phrase only works for you.
Find a quiet place. Hold the phone in front of you, in your hand. Speak clearly in your normal voice. Say "Hey Cortana" when prompted. Remember to say it the same way every time.
That's it. It take about two minutes to configure Cortana and she's ready to help.
Rebuilding Notes
The wordpress database was lost during a server crash and I'm in the process of rebuilding it.
Patience please.


text:
Sunshine Act casts shadow on CME
A bill introduced in the House of Representatives in March would mandate the reporting of all gifts to physicians worth more than $25—including education—and violators could lose millions in tax deductions for advertising expenses.
The Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2008—or H. R. 5605—could require quarterly transparency reporting of product rebates, dividends, education, funded research, food, trips and travel, consulting fees, rebates, dividends and anything else over the value of $25, transferred to physicians by drug, device and medical supply companies, or by third parties acting on their behalf. That information—who got what from whom—would be made publicly available.
The bill would impose fines of $10,000 to $100,000 per violation, and if a company failed to report a single gift over $25, it would lose its tax deductions on all advertising-related expenses for that year.
A similar bill, S. 2029, is moving through the Senate.
The House bill, authored by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), has a powerful co-sponsor in Ways and Means Health Subcommittee chairman Pete Stark (D-CA).
The Senate bill was introduced by Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), ranking member and former chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Herb Kohl (D-WI), chair of the Special Committee on Aging. "Americans are being gouged by pharmaceutical companies that spend more on marketing than they do on research and development," said DeFazio in a statement. "They enjoy generous subsidies from the government, but have no accountability when it comes to the billions of dollars they spend promoting high-priced drugs."
Stark added: "Patients deserve to know if doctors are on the take. Gifts and payments change doctors' behavior. If they didn't, drug, device and medical supply companies wouldn't bother. The Sunshine Act will help enable Medicare beneficiaries to determine if their doctors are acting in patients' best interests. It may even convince doctors to quit taking what can only be described as industry kickbacks."


text:
15 Meeting House Lane, Weymouth
Price: $529,900
Style: Cape Cod
Bedrooms: 3
Baths: 3
Built: 1979
Square feet: 2,030
Sewer: Public
When the current owners built this expansive Cape in 1979, they put wood shingles on the roof, wide planked pine and spruce flooring on the first floor, and a large brick fireplace in the kitchen — all to make the new appear antique. Still, ceiling heights are a robust 8 feet and the house has since been expanded to add a family room with a modern cathedral ceiling. A formal living room is in the opposite wing of the house. The kitchen has custom cabinets, an eating area, and is adjacent to a formal dining room with built-in cabinets. There is a full bath.
On the second floor, there is transition space uncommon in a Cape. The second-floor master is large with good closet space. The other two bedrooms each have good closets, and the largest has a small door leading to a loft area. The family bath has a tub with shower and a skylight. The basement is fully finished and includes a kitchenette, a full bath, recessed lighting, and a gardener's prep room. A large deck overlooks the landscaped grounds .
Michael Molisse of Molisse Realty Group in Weymouth is the listing broker.
John R. Ellement


text:
(aka El Hadge Abdoulaye Diallo-Bah)
Jesse Thyne, a fallen Peace Corps Volunteer from Pasadena, California, continues to touch the daily lives of those he knew and those he had yet to meet during his 24 years of life. On January 7, 2000, Jesse and fellow volunteer Justin Bhansali perished in a bush taxi accident on a rural road outside of Pita, Guinea. At the time of his tragic death, Jesse was a second-year PCV teaching math in the Fouta Djalon village of Diountou. His legacy continues on in Diountou, where the Peace Corps has constructed and dedicated a village library in his honor. A memorial was constructed in Pita in the memory of Jesse and Justin, and many PCV's also participate in the annual Memorial Walk For Road Safety.
Before joining the Peace Corps, Jesse was a popular student at the University of California, Santa Cruz, where he excelled in his studies of Psychology and Education. His favorite activities included cooking, tutoring local elementary school students, playing harmonica, and making everyone he met laugh. During his time in Guinea, Jesse remained close to those he left behind by writing hundreds of letters to his friends and family back home. At the conclusion of his Peace Corps service, Jesse planned to continue his life of public-service by moving to Washington, DC where he had accepted an invitation to teach math to inner-city high school students.
Despite his earthly passing, Jesse remains vibrantly alive in the hearts and minds of all who knew him.
If you are a friend or family member of this volunteer and would like to contribute a picture, a story, or something different, please send an email to firstname.lastname@example.com.
Make a comment
One Response to Jesse Patrick Thyne
oh,en lisant ce page ,j ai ete tres emue ,car cet homme la *Ablaye diallo-bah)etait mon prof de math en 2000.sa mort nous a tous toucher,tous citoyens de Diountou,car ou tu lui voiye il a sa grande sourire pour tous lui avec son collegue halimatou*corps de la paix )comme lui.
Je pris dieu que son ame se repose en paix…


text:
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The teenage stars of an Oscar-nominated short film from Afghanistan hope to walk the red carpet at the Academy Awards in February thanks to donations that are pouring in to pay for their travel.
A representative for the "Buzkashi Boys" film said on Thursday that an online campaign is two-thirds of its way to the $10,000 needed for 14-year-olds Fawad Mohammadi and Jawanmard Paiz to travel from Kabul to Los Angeles in time for Hollywood's biggest night on February 24.
"Buzkashi Boys" is about two children growing up in Kabul who dream of becoming Buzkashi riders, horsemen who compete in the dangerous Afghan national sport similar to polo, in which riders try to carry a headless goat across a goal-line.
So far, some 120 people have donated money to the travel fund from countries that include the United States, Germany, Afghanistan, Canada and Australia. Extra cash raised will go to a college fund for Mohammadi.
The teens hope to arrive a few days before the annual Academy Awards in which the film "Buzkashi Boys" by U.S. director Sam French is nominated for Best Live Action Short Film.
"I'm sure we'll get there one way or another," the film's publicist Leonard Morpurgo told Reuters.
"They need that money to get them over here," he said, adding that the film did not have the budget for the teens to travel to the Oscars.
Mohammadi, an amateur actor with piercing green eyes, gained international attention following the film's release last year for his personal story as a fatherless youth who grew up selling maps of Kabul to tourists in its Chicken Street market.
One of the boys is a street kid like Mohammadi, the other the son of a blacksmith forced to spend long hours in his father's dark workshop sharpening ax heads.
"Buzkashi Boys," which runs for just 28 minutes, is the first film to be produced by the Afghan Film Project, a non-profit group that aims to train filmmakers in Afghanistan.
(Reporting by Eric Kelsey; Editing by Jill Serjeant and Eric Walsh)


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Back in 2009, a little-known etailer called Farfetch was shortlisted for the Best Etail Innovation award at the Drapers Etail Awards. This week, that same etailer has filed notice of its intention to float on the New York Stock Exchange.
The Drapers Independent Awards celebrate the most influential brands and highly-respected independent retailers, and reward those businesses that are changing the landscape of fashion. Book your place at the event now to make sure you don't miss out
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Adidas Group has redesigned its UK headquarters to boost the performance and well-being of its staff
This year's Drapers Fashion Forum will put productivity at its heart and investigate how retailers can future-proof their businesses to survive and thrive. Don't miss out, and apply for your ticket now!
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Marcus Fairfax Fountaine and Felix Favor Parker always wanted to work together, and took the chance to create their own luxury footwear brand
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Twinset Milano opened two stores in London this summer. CEO Alessandro Varisco tells Drapers why London, why now, and what the future holds for the Italian womenswear brand
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9 August 2018
By Tara Hounslea
House of Fraser has said it requires investment no later than 20 August in a posting to the Luxembourg stock exchange, where its bonds are listed.
EMAP Publishing Limited Company number
7880758 (England & Wales) Registered address:
7th Floor, Vantage London, Great West Road,
Brentford, United Kingdom, TW8 9AG
Site powered by Webvision


text:
NEW YORK, NEW YORK -- When you apply to Buckle My Shoe the ever-so-smiling head teacher, Linda, and the other equally smiling, impossibly enthusiastic teachers make you feel so welcome. And more importantly, they fill your head with just how excellent and superior Buckle My Shoe is. They use the Reggio Emilia technique, they are expensive because they hire only the best of the best, etc. The truth however is more sinister...
Buckle My Shoe claims to adhere to the highest standards of education, but many teachers have trouble spelling basic words. For instance, 'bibs' was spelled 'bibes' and 'Dr Seuss' was 'Dr Seuse'. I pulled my child out after one year, so let me tell you about the infant classroom. The head of the class, Miss **, does absolutely nothing, barely interacts with the children and rarely enters their class room.
Even though she introduces herself as the head of the infant class, you will learn that you are paying her to sit all day by the front door, eating non-stop which is probably for the best since her level of education is such that she cannot string together one grammatically correct sentence. I'm not kidding when I say that at times, the woman spoke 'street'. Isn't the whole point of 'street' that you learn it on the street, not from teachers in high-paying schools such as Buckle My Shoe?! Oh and she's been there for 25 years, so is not likely to be going anywhere soon. And of course you, the parent, are paying high prices to keep her (and probably her union) happy.
The remaining infant class teachers are sweet, though extremely forgetful it seems, so be sure to label everything, or your kid will repeatedly go home wearing someone else's clothes, with some other kid's bottles or bibs (bibes) or spoons, etc.
Here's another thing, you may supply all the diapers you like but they disappear at a rate of knots, and they're not all ending up on your child. Several times, baffled by the incredible diaper disappearance, I scoured the room for myself only to find half empty packets of my kid's diapers (all labelled with her name) strewn about the place, lost under a crib, stuffed in some other kid's cubbyhole, dropped behind a shelf. The place was an absolute mess. Oh and we're not talking about 30 kids here, that year the infant classroom had just 6.
The teachers, sweet as they are, seem to have trouble retaining even the most basic information. I frequently wondered why my child had diaper rash after a day at school, only to learn that the teachers were never applying the diaper rash cream that I had supplied. I repeatedly reminded them that every diaper change needed to be accompanied by a generous application of diaper rash cream, yet it NEVER happened. Each day my child would come home with a red butt. I would apply generous amounts of cream, only to send her to Buckle My Shoe the next day for another round of painfully red butt. It was frustrating.
When my child's birthday came around, I threw a party and invited the other kids in the class. No one showed up. Weeks later I bumped into another parent who told me that no one had showed up to her child's birthday party either. It turned out that the 'genius' teachers had forgotten to distribute our invitations to the other parents! Did they apologize when I confronted them? No. They just blamed one another.
And here's the worst part. Don't bother complaining to the smiling head teacher about anything, as you will quickly learn that you, the paying parent, are the enemy. I shuddered as I watched that sugary smile vanish, only to be replaced by a wall of callous, sociopathic hatred and hard eyes. I was traumatized for days by the transformation from sweet to cold in that woman's face, when I had informed her about all the spelling errors. Her response was "It's just one spelling mistake. Don't be so nasty."
Unfortunately I only had photographic evidence of one spelling error (it hadn't occurred to me to photograph prior ones). I did mention that there had been more than one spelling mistake, but she wasn't interested, and was dead-set on defending her staff against me, the paying enemy. After that, I was no longer treated to the sugary smile, when I dropped off and collected my child. Remember you, the parent, are paying top dollar for this level of service.
Speaking of top dollar for absolutely nothing, once your child becomes ready for toilet training, I have heard from parents of older children, that Buckle My Shoe makes no attempt to help with your toilet training routine. The classes are small, yet Buckle My Shoe claim that they can't collaborate with you. Every other school I have interviewed (that is less expensive, provides longer hours and has larger classes), said that of course they would collaborate with parents in their toilet training efforts.
Here's another rub. Once your child is in the school, if you wish to stay a second year, Buckle My Shoe expects you to renew your contract in January, knowing full well that other schools start accepting applications later in the year. Speaking with other parents, I found that many renewed even though they would rather have the opportunity to wait and try to get into another less expensive school. Of course, no working parent wants to lose their spot in Buckle My Shoe only to later discover that other schools are fully booked, so they sign out of fear. Very clever Buckle My Shoe.
And finally, if, after reading this, you still wish to enroll your kid at Buckle My Shoe, be sure to read the contract. You will get a refund under NO, and I mean NO circumstances. If you suddenly have to move for work, if someone dies (maybe even if you die), your money is theirs from the January of the year your child is due to start. And we all know that a lot can happen between January and September! Perhaps, if like other schools they demanded renewals in April or May, that would be more realistic, albeit less lucrative for Buckle My Shoe.
Finally, note that their contract is efficiently worded to ensure they get your money and don't really have to give you anything in return. Read it! It's all about your obligations, and mentions nothing about their responsibilities to you and your child.
The head teacher claims to love children, but when your child walks through that door every morning, she sees nothing but walking dollar bills. If you don't believe it, then compare Buckle My Shoe with other schools. Compare prices, compare payment and enrollment policies (many schools ask for enrollment in April or later, and for payment at the start of every month), compare cancellation policies (many schools allow you to quit with two months notice), compare wording on the contract (do other schools talk about their obligations to your child, or is it worded to include only your obligations to the school?).
These are things you can look into before you enroll your child. And don't be duped when you are told that the school's tough approach to payment and enrollment is what keeps the school at such a high standard. Buckle My Shoe is not the only school to use the Reggio Emilia system, yet it is the only school to claim that in order to uphold it's 'high' standards, which as I have demonstrated above are not high at all, it has to enforce tough enrollment, payment and cancellation policies. Yeah right! Good luck everyone. School hunting is hard, and schools like Buckle my Shoe are there to exploit the fact that finding a school is so hard these days.


text:
© ® The Nobel Foundation
IPCC honoured with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize
Phone: +41-22-730-8208/84 e-mail:
The discussion that follows offers a sample of subregional and extra-regional
cases that reflect the unique and changing nature of the relationship between
climate and places in the North American context. Six subregions have been defined:
Pacific, Rocky Mountains-Southwest United States, Prairies-Great Plains,
Great Lakes-St. Lawrence, North Atlantic, and Southeast United States (see
Figure 15-9). These subregions represent unique landscapes
that have experienced development paths that reflect natural potential for resource
development as well as region-specific histories of evolving economies and communities.
Some of these cases describe responses to recent extreme events. Others focus
on scenarios of future climatic changes. Canada and the United States have a
long history of cooperating on resource management concerns in transboundary
areas, including the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 and more recent agreements
on transboundary air pollution, watershed development, and the environmental
agreement associated with NAFTA. There also have been binational and subregional
conflicts over a wide range of issues that are climate-sensitive, including
water resources, wetland protection, trading of forest and agricultural commodities,
and harvesting of transboundary fish stocks. Various cooperative management
approaches are being considered. Could climate change make a difference in any
of these conflicts? Extra-regional issues are considered for the Arctic, U.S.-Mexican,
and U.S.-Caribbean borders.
This subregion includes the Columbia River basinthe fourth-largest in
North America, and one of the most valuable and heavily developed watersheds.
The Columbia system produces 18,500 MW of hydroelectricity; it also is managed
for flood control, agriculture, navigation, sport and commercial fisheries,
log transportation, recreation, wildlife habitat, and urban, industrial, and
aboriginal uses. Climate variability affects the total volume and temporal pattern
of natural runoff, although binational management agreements have substantially
altered this pattern. Any hydrological changes caused by long-term climatic
change will have impacts that may affect the management of the system and the
nature of conflicts among various users. Recent management and policy changes
have led to changes in system operations; fish habitat protection now is regarded
as a high priorityon par with hydroelectricity production and flood control
(Cohen et al., 2000).
Climatic change is expected to lead to reductions in annual streamflow. Estimates
for three warming scenarios range from a small increase to a decrease of 16%
by 2050, with an earlier annual peak, higher winter flows, and lower summer
flows (Lettenmaier et al., 1996, 1999; Hamlet and Lettenmaier, 1999;
Miles et al., 2000). This would affect system reliability. Results from
a reservoir system model for the driest of the three scenarios [based on the
Max Planck Institute (MPI) GCM, ECHAM-4] indicate reductions of 15% in reliability
for Snake River irrigation, 11% for McNary Dam "biological flow" (to
support fish habitat), 14% for firm energy production, and 19% for nonfirm energy
production. Reliability for flood control would remain relatively unchanged
in this case but would decrease in the wetter scenarios (Hamlet and Lettenmaier,
1999; Miles et al., 2000).
Interviews were held in 1997 with water resources managers and other stakeholders
in the upstream portion of the Columbia, on the Canadian side. Their responses
to the MPI scenario were similar to those obtained from the reservoir system
model. For example, they noted that flood risk would not necessarily be reduced
because upstream storage facilities may be releasing high discharges for fish
habitat protection or other reasons. Similarly, irrigation supply and hydroelectricity
production would be reduced because of lower annual flow combined with fish
protection requirements. In these circumstances, regional utilities might have
to purchase electricity from fossil fuel sources, thereby affecting the region's
ability to meet GHG emission targets (Cohen et al., 2000).
This case study suggests that despite the high level of development and management
in the Columbia basin, vulnerabilities would still exist and impacts could still
occur in scenarios of natural streamflow changes caused by global climate change.
It also suggests that expanded development of hydroelectric facilities, as a
means of reducing GHG emissions, will create considerable challenges to management,
given increases in the sensitivity of regional energy supplies and other water-related
resources to climate.
Table of contents
IPCC Homepage


text:
DFM chat on how to #snowfall your stories without knowing code
Today we are talking about snowfalling your stories. Can it be done in small newsrooms with small to no resources (SPOILER: YES). Is it worth doing? How? Don't forget to bring your toolkit, curiosity and your real talk.
You can check out past chats over here. If you use Tweetchat you don't have to type the hashtag.
If you want to chime in, post a comment in the container or a tweet with the hashtag "#dfmchat" so it can automatically appear below.
Read more »
Labels: dfmchat, digital first media, explanatory journalism, how to, journalism


text:
Low oxygen levels could have triggered two giant extinctions hundreds of millions of years ago, allowing the dinosaurs to reign supreme over the ancestors of mammals, US researchers said on Friday.
Dinosaurs first appeared during a long period of low oxygen and therefore developed highly efficient breathing mechanisms that allowed them to thrive while many other species became extinct.
The researchers arrived at the theory by tying in what is known about the physiology of dinosaurs with recent geological evidence suggesting that from 275 million to 175 million years ago, oxygen levels were very low -- comparable to levels now found at altitudes of 4,200m.
Peter Ward, a University of Washington paleontologist, said he believes low oxygen and hot greenhouse conditions caused by intense volcanic activity may have caused widespread extinctions 250 million years ago, at the boundary between the Permian and Triassic periods, and about 200 million years ago, at the boundary between the Triassic and Jurassic periods.
The Permian-Triassic extinction is believed to have eradicated 90 percent of all species on Earth, including most protomammals, the immediate ancestors of true mammals. The Triassic-Jurassic extinction killed more than half the species, including many mammals and mammal-like reptiles. But dinosaurs flourished.
Ward said he put together three pieces of the puzzle -- the extremely efficient breathing systems of birds, the finding that many dinosaurs had similar physiology, and a report that came out earlier this year showing that oxygen levels were low during the two extinctions.
"Someone told me they had heard of or seen geese flying above (Mount) Everest -- at 31,000 feet [10,000m]," said Ward, who presents his findings next week to a meeting of the Geological Society of America.
"If you put a human at 30,000 feet they'd be very, very, quite dead. And the birds are not only up there, they are doing major heavy exercise," Ward said
Birds and dinosaurs both have holes in their bones. And many of the largest dinosaurs, such as the brontosaurus or apatosaurus, seem to have had lungs attached to a series of thin-walled air sacs that may have acted something like bellows to move air through the body.
"The reason the birds developed these systems is that they arose from dinosaurs halfway through the Jurassic Period. They are how the dinosaurs survived," Ward said.
"The literature always said that the reason birds had sacs was so they could breathe when they fly. But I don't know of any brontosaurus that could fly," he added.
"However, when we considered that birds fly at altitudes where oxygen is significantly lower, we finally put it all together with the fact that the oxygen level at the surface was only 10 percent to 11 percent at the time the dinosaurs evolved."
Currently at sea level, atmospheric oxygen levels are 21 percent.
If giant dinosaurs had to breathe in a low-atmosphere environment, then such an efficient breathing system would have given them a survival advantage.
"You'd be really favored for survival in very bad, nasty, low-oxygen world," Ward said.
Dinosaurs dominated the world for hundreds of millions of years, perishing 65 million years ago. Most scientists agree the impact of an asteroid or meteor was the catalyst for their extinction.


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The history of Renault motor works has started during the last weeks of 1898. Louis Renault celebrated his 21st birthday that time and he chose that occasion for the presentation of his new vehicle, Renault type A. The car had 270 ccm engine capacity, 1.75 Hp output and 3-speed gearbox. It could transport two adults by speed up to 50 km/h. Type A was based on De Dion`s quadricycle.
As with earlier Renault models, the company made extensive use of motor racing to promote the 4CV, the car winning both the Le Mans 24 Hours and Mille Miglia races as well as the Monte Carlo rally. However, despite the success of its flagship model, the company continued to be blighted by labor unrest, and indeed continued to be well into the 1980s.
I have added these pages to Classic Car Magazine to allow any Renault R10 owners or enthusiasts a quick and easy reference and a place to share pictures of Renault R10 's. Technical specifications are also listed on this page as are Renault R10 's for sale, Renault R10 spare parts and Renault R10 books and memorabilia. If you cannot find what you are looking for on this page then feel free to use the Goggle Search feature below to search the web for more Renault R10 information.
Remember to Bookmark this page, and call back again to view the latest Renault R10 adverts on these pages.
If you have a birthday to buy for or to help with a rebuild project, you are looking for books and manuals on this car, have a look at the titles Amazon has available. They stock both new and rare out-of-print titles.


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Paul McCartney was stunned and stopped.
Welcome to Super Bowl XXXVI, the last time the NFL's grand game landed in New Orleans.
On Sunday the Super Bowl returns, the eighth time the contest comes with side dishes of gumbo and jambalaya
But in 2002 for SB XXXVI, Jim Steeg was a jumble of nerves.
"Remember it was right after 9/11,'' Steeg said.
Which meant the game came with a tsunami of security concerns. Many of which clogged Steeg's to-do list, as the NFL's lead executive in all things Super Bowl.
Steeg, of San Diego, rattles off the issues, which ranged from anxiety attacks to anthrax scares. He cited the cascade of problems that few thought could be overcome, after the game was postponed a week because of 9/11.
New Orleans almost lost the Super Bowl, with Pasadena and Miami on standby. But to the indefatigable Steeg, the game had to go on, and it did.
It was a challenging, scary time and it was proved when McCartney appeared for a game-day morning rehearsal.
The man who crooned, "Love, love me do" got little affection from the Secret Service. It was entrusted to protect President George W. Bush's afternoon arrival.
"The Secret Service wouldn't let him in until they patted him down,'' Steeg said. "I mean, it's Paul McCartney. But he got patted down.''
We pat Steeg on the back for a job well done, one that stands out among his 26 seasons as the NFL's super head honcho.
Every year came with quirks, many unfolding far from the countless cameras covering the game.
Like when Michael Jackson, who performed at Super Bowl XXVII, had to told what the Super Bowl actually was.
"He really didn't know what we were talking about,'' Steeg said. "He knew about football, but not the magnitude of the Super Bowl.
"But the light went off when we told him it would be broadcast in 180 countries. He said, 'OK, I get this.'''
Or when Diana Ross at SB XXX exited the field via a helicopter.
Or when Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction at SB XXXVIII created a stir which still resonates.
"I was not a happy,'' Steeg said of her disrobing. "Here I thought Janet Jackson was the safest part of that halftime show. I thought Kid Rock or P. Diddy might be more problematic.''
But the obstacles of guaranteeing national anthem singers are on cue, that halftime stages are interchanged quickly, that the post-game confetti falls at precisely the right moment, pale in producing SB XXXVI.
It was anything but the big easy.
The show behind the show was a massive undertaking, and it all fell under Steeg's oversized umbrella.
"Hey, I never had rain at one of my Super Bowls,'' said Steeg, who had left the NFL before soggy SB XLIV in Miami.
The vise which the Super Bowl has on America – it is a national holiday, right? – will be evident Sunday. While looking ahead to the 49ers-Ravens scuffle, time will be spent reflecting on the Crescent City's last Super Bowl in 2002.
The one with tanks in the streets and snipers on building ledges. The one with magnetometers at entrances and water trucks behind the Superdome, poised to rinse a stadium of spectators if coming under a chemical attack.
"It was such a tough week because if you remember back in those days everyone was afraid to fly and having people congregate in big buildings,'' Steeg said. "And we had the combination of the two.
"But we wanted it to be the safest place on the planet. We had an obligation to make sure that it was a success. "Because if it failed, the country would have stayed in the recession. The Super Bowl is a very important element of our country.''
With the nation's psyche in play, Steeg and staff presented a Super Bowl long to be remembered – on that Sunday and this one.
Steeg thinks of everything, but he couldn't script the SB XXXVI winner. With the U.S. and world watching, it was appropriate the Patriots prevailed.
"I have a great attachment to the New Orleans and the people there,'' Steeg said. "To me the greatest accomplishment I had was Super Bowl XXXVI.''


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I hope you enjoyed the last challenge and are looking forward to the next one! Last time it was easy for you as you could enter any mixed media project. There are so many amazing entries we will need to take a few days to decide on our winner and our Fab 3. I will be back next week to reveal the lucky winners.
The brand new team are exited to be bringing you their very first inspiration this month and you are in for a real treat! This month, you can once again enter anything you like, but we also have a Mood Board as an optional twist. We would really like to see how you would interpret it.
The wonderful makes from my lovely DT ladies are below so enjoy!
Video here
I really enjoy creating abstract mixed media art. I had fun with PaperArtsy Grunge paste, Prima Heavy Gesso, Lindy's sprays, Decoart Acrylic spray, some inks and more...
I decided to create a 20x60 canvas "A promise for Spring". I found places for all pieces of the Mood board while having lots of fun.
Video here
March is a fickle month: either more Winter or, hopefully, Spring is about to appear. My altered bottle, Ice Melt, celebrates the coming of Spring. I incorporated the theme and colors in the moodboard - melting ice, renewal, blue sky and sunlight. So, in the spirit of renewal, an orange Halloween glass bottle is reborn via gesso, crackle paste, modeling paste, spray mists, old lace, handmade flowers and embellishments!
I looove our March moodboard! Its colour scheme resembles a lot the colours of early Spring behind my window. I created two tags inspired by several elements from our moodboard - the colour scheme, the red berries and even the horse :)
I think on my notebook is still a winter. You can find there remnants of ice and frozen earth. But also a few flowers and a little fairy sitting and waiting patiently for spring.
I chose for my cover a piece of cotton fabric in blue-gray color and I started with chipboard die cuts, skeleton leafs and crackle paste to create a texture. Next I added all embellishments and covered them with a white gesso. After all the layers have dried, I painted everything with mists and Opal Magic acrylic paints.
Live Love Laugh : Winter canvas
I have created a winter canvas for March challenge . "If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant" so enjoy this winter ..live in this moment , enjoy this moment to it fullest !!
I have used lots of Lindy's Spray Mist ,Snowflake paste, art stones and Dusty Attic chipboard !!


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Driver charged in crash that killed 9-year-old in Richmond Co.
Driver charged in crash that killed 9-year-old in Richmond Co.
A man has been charged in the December 8 crash that killed a 9-year-old boy in Rockingham.
Police said Thursday that 44-year-old Christopher Goodwin had been charged with felony involuntary manslaughter.
Authorities say the boy, Jody Williams, died after his car was hit on Highway 74. His grandmother was driving, and she was hospitalized with serious injuries.
Police said Goodwin was driving 15 miles above the posted 45 mph speed limit at the time of the crash.
Goodwin was being held on $5,000 bond, and it wasn't known if he had an attorney.


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The Art Of Fashion
The MET helps produce art inspired fashion!
Heidi announces that this is the final challenge of the season and that of the five designers still standing, two will be eliminated. She declares that the designers are taking one last field trip and instructs them to meet me at Fifth Avenue and 82nd Street. Thus ensued lots of "Where are we going?" speculation. Didn't any of them know that this is the address of the Metropolitan Museum of Art? I was absolutely ecstatic about meeting the designers there, because the Met is a major NYC obsession of mine and I was thrilled to share it. The Met is a treasure trove of masterpieces with something for everyone, and that's a massive understatement: 5,000 years of art and artifacts! I'm at the Met all the time; it's my church. Imagine my thrill for all of us when I learned that we would have access to this great institution before opening hours. Wow!
I greet the designers on the front steps of the Met and we enter. Their challenge: Choose a work of art to serve as the inspiration of a look of their choice. They have three destinations: the Greek and Roman Sculpture courtyard, the European Painting wing, and the Temple of Dendur. And we have a mere 45 minutes for all three! Any one of these destinations could consume days! Thankfully, the designers were presented with cameras to record their inspirations. We return to the workroom at Parsons where the designers can print their digital photographs and select one for the inspiration for their design. They have an hour to sketch, followed by 30 minutes at MOOD with a budget of $300. They have two days for this last challenge.
Later in the workroom, I introduce the designers to Collier Strong, consulting makeup artist to L'Oreal Paris, who will advise them how to best enhance their designs through the makeup for their models.
I want to add that this is the first season in the history of the show when most of the designers didn't disappoint me with the last challenge. In prior seasons, the designers performed in a way that said, "I don't care about winning the challenge, I just don't want to be out." The results were lackluster at best. This season, most of the designers were motivated by wanting to WOW the judges, with our special guest judge being Roberto Cavalli. Don't disappoint Mr. Cavalli!
Christian wins! His look was inspired by a dramatic 17th Century Spanish portrait by Bartolome Esteban Murillo. Christian brilliantly translated the militaristic costume in the portrait into womenswear. Was the outcome a little costume-y? Well, yes, in a way, but it was also dramatic and editorial. And most important from a design standpoint were the silhouette and proportions, which were sublime. His slim, dark jodhpurs offered the perfect counterpoint to the voluminous, billowing shirt in white organza. Over the shirt was a high-collared shrunken vest, and the look was topped with a fedora. Lisa looked ready for a stroll with her petit chien along the Avenue Foch. And Christian, you're ready for an emblazoned tiara! Bryant Park, here you come!Sweet P is out. Her inspiration was a colorful, highly-detailed, and exuberant 17th Century Dutch painting entitled "Peacocks," which was nothing if not a fabulous inspiration. So, what went wrong? For me, it all began to unravel at MOOD: I was confused by her fabric choices, especially the print, because she seemed to want it to serve as faux peacock feathers, rather than layering the fabric in a feather-like way. The result was so disappointing and unambitious: a weird, dowdy house dress that could have been part of Shirley Booth's wardrobe in Come Back Little Sheba. Although the dress was a very basic silhouette, its weirdness derived from these odd side pockets that looked like misplaced godets. Huh? And I was surprised to hear the judges applaud the fit of the dress. What? Lea looked like a waif who was being gobbled up. Sweet P, we love you, and we'll miss you.
Chris disappointed me. I loved his inspiration: an 18th Century portrait of the Marquise D'Argence by Nattier. What evolved out of that inspiration was, in my opinion, a mere riff on the avant-garde dress of his and Christian's collaboration. Chris used yards and yards of duchesse satin in pearl gray for the body of the floor-length gown and used a darker gray satin for a shoulder-piece-cum-collar. Then, he took a nap. I was annoyed. I was annoyed, because the shoulder piece was so derivative of the earlier dress and the gown wasn't taken far enough. And I was annoyed, because there was plenty of time remaining to fix either or both. No -- he was content. Sigh. Chris, I can't want you to succeed more than you do, and it was evident that I did.
Jillian was a strong contender for the win, again, as demonstrated by the judges giving her an assured place at Bryant Park. Her inspiration was a 15th Century narrative battle painting entitled, "Master of the Argonauts." Owing to the fact that she was borrowing elements from many aspects of this highly detailed and complex work of art, her outcome was the least literal of the group and I applauded that. Furthermore, it was the most ready-to-wear, too. She created a stunning military-inspired fitted jacket in black with gold piping. The piping served to punctuate the gold lame lining of the jacket and the matching gold lame mini-dress. The effect was sexy and sophisticated and very, very modern. Frankly, we all swooned. Congratulations, Jillian -- you're going to Bryant Park!
Rami was very close to being eviscerated by the judges for being "too expected" and "too Rami," and I felt sincerely bad for him. He is the only one of the designers who didn't use a work of art from the European Painting wing as inspiration. Had he, I would have been shocked, since the Greek and Roman Sculpture courtyard had "Rami!" written all over it. He chose a 1st Century AD sculpture of Aphrodite for his inspiration, and inspiration it was, indeed. Rami's tactical error was to focus on masterful craft over drama. I truly loved his lavender matte silk crepe dechine toga dress, but I was also cognizant that it was missing a "Wow!" factor. The qualities of his design were in the details. Those details required thoughtful study and how was that going to happen in this context. "Wow!" it was not.
So, the judges were deadlocked. Rami and Chris will both create collections and compete for a spot in Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week at Bryant Park. When they arrive in New York at the beginning of Fashion Week, they will each present to the judges their three strongest looks. The judges will determine which one of them will be the third member of the Final Three. Fasten your seat belts.


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The Catechist's Guide allows for weekly planning with an easy-to-use Get-Ready Guide. Along with planning tools and resources, the Guide provides step-by-step teaching directions, lesson scripting, additional activities, resources, and much more.
Each Catechist's Guide comes with free resources: 2 Music CDs, a colorful poster, and a set of Blackline Masters with assessments and activities.


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Food Brands Get Crowdfunding Boost With CircleUp Deal
Tech entrepreneurs can find plenty of resources for raising funds from investors online. Notable "equity crowdfunding" sites like MicroVenture Marketplace, SeedInvest and SecondMarket focus on the makers of apps and hardware. But what about businesses that make everything you'd find at a grocery or convenience store?
Today, venture capitalists are backing CircleUp Network, a company that brings equity crowdfunding to startups of another stripe, the makers of consumer packaged goods.
CircleUp raised $7.5 million in Series A financing for its specialized crowdfunding concept in a round led by Union Square Ventures and joined by Google Ventures.
Since its site launched in 2012, CircleUp has helped 12 companies–mostly food brands–raise $10.5 million online from accredited investors. In the largest single round raised on the site, WillaGirl, a maker of skincare products for tween girls, raised $1 million.
On average, companies take about two months to close a round via CircleUp, said founder and chief operating officer, Rory Eakin. The efficiency afforded by a site like this is life-saving for some businesses, observed Google Ventures General Partner David Krane.
In a recent example, Fresh Ice Cream Co., known as Steve's Ice Cream, raised $350,000 on CircleUp to evolve its model from a classic storefront business into one that sells pints and prepacked ice cream nationally through
groceries and online.
Until last year, Steve's operated iconic shops in New York and Boston. The company set trends, offering "mix-in" flavors as early as 1973, before the rise of Ben & Jerry's Homemade.
Two of its most popular flavors in stores were salted caramel, and the specialty Brooklyn Blackout, a "milk chocolate ice cream swirled with pieces of chocolate stout cake pieces and dark chocolate pudding," said Chief Executive David J. Stein.
Without the timely fundraising made possible by CircleUp, Stein said, his company would have had to wait a full year to manufacture and sell these beyond a few natural markets.
The company raised its money in time to travel to meet with buyers, and to produce pints for May distribution. Steve's will be in freezers at Whole Foods Market, Andronico's Market and a number of other larger groceries this spring.
Other food brands that raised funds on CircleUp include makers of organic baby food (NurturMe), healthy snacks and bars (18 Rabbits, Little Duck Organics, Peeled Snacks), kale chips (Rhythm Superfoods), and organic butter substitutes (Prosperity Organic Foods).
CircleUp's financing is also a sign that venture capitalists are embracing equity crowdfunding, despite an unknown regulatory future for the industry.
The Securities and Exchange Commission is under pressure to issue rules, per the JOBS Act, that should eventually allow everyday U.S. investors–not just accredited angels–to back startups online, including food and beverage makers.
A partner at Union Square Ventures, Andy Weissman, said while this is his firm's first investment in an equity-crowdfunding business, he views CircleUp as "a company that helps other businesses grow, in a way that banks have not."
Write to Lora Kolodny at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter at @lorakolodny
(UPDATE: This story was updated to clarify the list of companies that used CircleUp.)


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Andreas Halvorsen's Largest Second-Quarter Buys
Halvorsen said in his first-quarter letter that he possibly had been too cautious during the quarter, according to Reuters. In the second quarter, he bought 21 new stocks, the largest of which are: State Street Corporation ( STT ), Eastman Chemical Company ( EMN ), Pfizer Inc. ( PFE ), Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and W.R. Grace & Co. ( GRA ).
State Street Corporation ( STT )
Viking invested 2.7% of their portfolio, or 7,519,669 shares, into largest new holding State Street Corporation. The share price was approximately $43.50. State Street's stock collapsed in 2008, but has recovered 31% over the last year.
State Street is the world's top financial services provider to institutional investors with $22.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $1.0 trillion in assets under management as of June 30, 2012.
State Street's revenue and free cash flow has been increasing for the past three years. In the second quarter of 2012, the company's earnings per share were $0.98, down 2% from $1.00 in the second quarter of 2011 and up 15% from $0.85 in the second quarter of 2011, while net income increased for the third straight quarter. The company said it has been experiencing a difficult economic environment, particularly internationally.
The company also announced that it would acquire Goldman Sachs' hedge-fund administration business in a deal it expects to close in the fourth quarter of 2012.
State Street Corporation has a market cap of $20.48 billion; its shares were traded at around $41.9 with a P/E ratio of 11.2 and P/S ratio of 2.1. The dividend yield of State Street Corporation stocks is 2.3%. State Street Corporation had an annual average earnings growth of 1% over the past 10 years.
Eastman Chemical Company ( EMN )
Viking acquired 4,763,400 shares of Eastman Chemical Company at an average price of $49 in the second quarter. Since then, the stock has advanced 13% to new 52-week highs.
Eastman Chemical Company is a global chemical company with a broad portfolio of chemical, plastic and fiber products. In the second quarter, Eastman Chemical saw slight revenue declines across all of its segments. It also completed the purchase of Solutia, a company that produced $520 million in revenue I the second quarter, which should meaningfully add to future growth and cash flow.
Eastman Chemical Company has a market cap of $7.68 billion; its shares were traded at around $55.48 with a P/E ratio of 12.3 and P/S ratio of 1.1. The dividend yield of Eastman Chemical Company stocks is 1.9%. Eastman Chemical Company had an annual average earnings growth of 6.1% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Eastman Chemical Company the business predictability rank of 2-star .
Pfizer Inc. ( PFE )
Halvorsen bought 6,809,900 shares of Pfizer Inc. at an average price of $22. Since then, the stock has advanced 9%. Pfizer Inc is a research-based, global pharmaceutical company that discovers and develops innovative, value-added products.
Pfizer's second-quarter revenues decreased 15% in the U.S. due to the loss of exclusivity for its top-selling drug, Lipitor. Emerging markets was one of its fastest-growing units, with revenues up 14% from second-quarter 2011, mainly due to higher sales in China and Russia after launching more targeted promotional efforts. The biggest changes happening at the company are a pending sale of its nutrition business and a possible spin-off of its animal health business, which could IPO in August.
Pfizer Inc. has a market cap of $178.14 billion; its shares were traded at around $23.93 with a P/E ratio of 10.3 and P/S ratio of 2.6. The dividend yield of Pfizer Inc. stocks is 3.7%. Pfizer Inc. had an annual average earnings growth of 0.5% over the past 10 years.
Eli Lilly ( LLY )
Halvorsen purchased 3,492,300 shares of Eli Lilly at an average price of $41. The stock has since gained 3%.
Eli Lilly and Company discovers, develops, manufactures and sells pharmaceutical products. The company's revenue has grown every year for the last decade, and its last two-years of earnings were its highest in the same period.
Similar to Pfizer, Lilly lost revenue in the second quarter due to patent expirations of some of its drugs. Global revenue declined 10% to $5.6 billion, driven by the expiration of its patent on Zyprexa, its highest-selling drug, sales of which dropped 73%. Other areas were strong. Growth in China and Japan was 28% and 15%. Its Elanco Animal Health segment's revenue grew 32%.
Lilly raised its 2012 earnings per share guidance to a range of $3.29 to $3.39 on a reported basis, from the previously expected $3.14 to $3.29.
Eli Lilly & Co. has a market cap of $49.23 billion; its shares were traded at around $42.301 with a P/E ratio of 11.3 and P/S ratio of 2. The dividend yield of Eli Lilly & Co. stocks is 4.6%. Eli Lilly & Co. had an annual average earnings growth of 5.3% over the past 10 years. GuruFocus rated Eli Lilly & Co. the business predictability rank of 2.5-star .
W.R. Grace & Co. ( GRA )
Halvorsen purchased 2,717,594 shares of W.R. Grace & Co. at an average price of $54, which equates to 3.45% of shares outstanding. Since then, the stock has gained 9%.
W.R. Grace & Co. produces specialty chemicals. They primarily operate through the following two business segments: Davison Chemicals and Performance Chemicals. In the second quarter, the company's net income declined to $69.3 million from $74.8 million the prior year. The company's greatest area of growth were Asia Pacific, which increased 11.2%, and Latin America, which rose 12.9%. North America and Europe, Middle East and Africa sales declined 4% and 4.8%, respectively. Sales to emerging markets grew 13.3%, representing 36.3% of sales.
W.R. Grace & Co. has a market cap of $4.46 billion; its shares were traded at around $58.97 with a P/E ratio of 14.7 and P/S ratio of 1.4. W.R. Grace & Co. had an annual average earnings growth of 6.7% over the past 10 years.
Andreas Halvorsen's largest holdings are Priceline.com ( PCLN ), MasterCard ( MA ) and Visa ( V ). See his portfolio here. Also check out the Undervalued Stocks, Top Growth Companies and High Yield stocks of Andreas Halvorsen.About GuruFocus: GuruFocus.com tracks the stocks picks and portfolio holdings of the world's best investors. This value investing site offers stock screeners and valuation tools. And publishes daily articles tracking the latest moves of the world's best investors. GuruFocus also provides promising stock ideas in 3 monthly newsletters sent to Premium Members .


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Reporting an Accident
If you are reporting an accident or emergency by cell phone:
- Be sure you are safe.
- If you are driving, pull over to a safe spot, turn on your hazard lights (flashers) and stop before calling for help.
- Be watchful of the potential for additional accidents caused by the first accident.
- Stay out of the path of oncoming vehicles.
WHN TIP – Be Safe, Be Smart: Never EVER risk your own safety.
Be prepared to give specific information to the agency called:
- Location of the emergency
- Road name or number
- City, state
- Closest cross street or off-ramp, milepost or other identifiers
- Direction of travel
- Any distinguishing landmarks
Describe the nature of the emergency:
- Crash
- Reckless or suspected drinking driver
- Traffic hazard
- Medical emergency
- Fire
- Crime in progress, etc.
WHN TIP – Cell phone numbers for reporting emergencies vary by state, region and city. You should get the current numbers for your area and keep them in your car, purse and wallet for quick reference in event of an emergency.
In every instance, the dispatcher will ask for:
- Your name
- Mobile phone number, and home and work phone numbers in case more information is needed.
It is important that you stay on the line until the dispatcher says he or she has enough information to be able to send help.
Above all, after reporting an emergency, cell phone users should never risk their own safety. Calling for trained, professional help is the best approach, although in an immediate life-threatening situation it may be appropriate to take rescue action provided the "rescuer" is not endangered.


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The USC Graduate School
Graduate studies had their formal beginnings at the University of Southern California in 1910, and 1923 marked the official constitution of the Graduate School of the university.
Graduate and professional education at USC prepares students for leadership in research, teaching, the application of knowledge and professional practice. Excellence in graduate and professional education is critically dependent on the interaction of faculty members and students. The values that characterize these interactions include dedication to excellence, mutual respect, fairness, collegiality, honesty and integrity.
The USC Graduate School is responsible for those academic and professional affairs of the university which relate to the degree programs offered through the Graduate School. The Graduate School also participates in general university affairs relating to graduate and professional education and research. The role of the Graduate School includes ensuring that the establishment and administration of graduate programs within the university are consistent with the academic goals of the university as a whole, fostering quality in all phases of graduate education in compliance with standards applied to the best graduate schools throughout the nation; encouraging the involvement of faculty in determining policies and standards for research and teaching, standards for admission and academic progress, and in the review and assessment of academic programs; and helping students entering graduate programs obtain the maximum benefit from the teaching, learning and research activities of the university.
AdministrationJoseph B. Hellige, Ph.D., Dean and Vice Provost for Academic Programs
John Dreher, Ph.D., Associate Dean, The Graduate School
Julena Lind, Ph.D., Associate Dean, The Graduate School
Jean Morrison, Ph.D., Associate Dean, The Graduate School